Neighborhood

Williamsburg is often associated with millennial brunch-goers, music-lovers, and trend-setters. Excellent dining, music venues, and boutique shops fill this Brooklyn neighborhood to the brim. Williamsburg’s activity centers around Bedford Avenue, with McCarren Park and East River State Park within quick walking distance.

There’s always plenty to do in Williamsburg, from a visit to the City Reliquary or Museum of Food and Drink Lab, to beer-tasting at Brooklyn Brewery, to bowling and listening to live music at Brooklyn Bowl. Of course, food is an essential part of Williamsburg culture. Longstanding establishment Peter Luger serves some of the best steaks in the country (since 1887), and newer restaurants such as Marlow & Sons, Diner, Allswell, and Egg have ushered in the farm to fork movement. In the warmer months, the neighborhood grows even more alive as the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg food market, and Artists & Fleas set up near the waterfront.

For the past two decades, creative minds and college grads have flocked to Williamsburg, sustaining a young and talented hiring pool. Businesses that buy or rent office space in Williamsburg will find themselves in the company of Vice Media, Livestream, Wanderlust, Farm to People, GREATS sneakers, Falcon.io, BlockApps, and GrowthWheel.

Williamsburg Office Space | Lease Data & Trends

Williamsburg offers over 900,00 square feet of commercial real estate inventory, with close to 960,000 square feet under construction. The current vacancy rate for brick & beam, traditional, and flex office spaces is 44.1%. Overall rent tends toward $60 per square foot, but prices are slightly higher above Grand Street due to closer proximity to the Subway lines.

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With the presence of two WeWork locations, Workspace Williamsburg, Green Desk, and The Brass Factory, Williamsburg is ideal for tech companies and start-ups looking for co-working space. Even co-working spaces are reinventing themselves in Williamsburg: Rough Draft NYC is the first co-working space to also operate as a full-service creative agency, The Bakery combines co-working and studio space within a repurposed kosher bakery, and AgTech X is a co-working lab specifically focused on urban farming.

Hudson Companies’ a three-story creative office building The Breeze is expected to be completed in the summer of 2018. This new space will provide 100,000 square feet of office and retail space, and will also be home to a rooftop bar, an event venue, and a 2,000 square foot arcade.

Neighborhood History

Once a part of Bushwick, Williamsburg experienced its first bout of rapid expansion in the first half of the 19th century, briefly becoming its own city before becoming incorporated into Brooklyn in 1855. Williamsburg continued to experience industrial, cultural, and economic growth, with population growth following in fast pursuit. At the beginning of the 20th century, Williamsburg was the most densely populated neighborhood in New York City. The modern classic novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was set in Williamsburg during this time.

Williamsburg was a popular location for condiment and household product manufacturers, and many of these buildings have been repurposed for both residential and commercial purposes. One example is the Domino Sugar Refinery. Two Trees Management, which owns most commercial real estate in DUMBO, is leading a city-approved plan to convert Domino Sugar’s three buildings into a neighborhood hub, with creative office space alongside residential, retail, and community facilities.

Getting Around Williamsburg

Williamsburg is served by 25 car shares, 13 bus lines, and 2 East River Ferry stops. The abundance of parks and playgrounds, as well as easy access to the waterfront, encourages walkers, bikers, and skaters — so does the incredible difficulty of finding an empty parking space. There are bike lanes on Bedford Avenue and a handful of Citi Bike stations.

The L train stops at Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street as is the main line used to get in and out of Williamsburg. The J, M, Z, and G trains also serve the area.